By the time you read this, it will be the last day of sorority recruitment here at ULL and you will be getting ready to run into your brand new house: the house you have visited all week and have absolutely fallen in love with.
It sounds so cliche, but there are no amount of words that I can say that will prepare you for everything that is in store.
Screaming girls, lots of hugs, maybe even some tears of joy.
Glitter, streamers, definitely a ton of Instagram-worthy pics.
And four years of sisterhood like you have never imagined.
To the new pledge class of 2016, you have already stolen my heart, and here are the reasons why:
1. We have been waiting so anxiously for you.
All the long hours of recruitment workshops spent learning songs and going over outfits- it is all about to pay off when we see you. You are the girls we have prayed for; the girls we can't wait to see run through our house on Bid Day. You have been loved and adored since the moment you stepped into our house on the first day of recruitment, and we can't wait to tackle you on the very last day and paint your face with our letters.
2. You are going to bring so many new things to our chapter.
Here in our house, we have a saying that goes something like, "We don't want you to come into our house and be one of us- we want you to come in and just be you." We pride ourselves on all of the different backgrounds and experiences our girls come from, and you are no different. We picked you and you picked us because there was a connection- there was something in you that we saw, we loved, and we had to have. You are going to make the difference. You already make us so much better by being a part of our big family.
3. You get to experience all the things that made our first years of college so amazing.
The transition from high school to college is hard, but being in the sisterhood I joined made a whole world of a difference. People love to say being in a sorority is "paying for your friends," but that is not the case at all. You don't just gain an instant group of sisters who love you for who you are to hang out with you inside and outside of class, but you are rewarded with special opportunities to make a difference and get involved. Through our philanthropy and service events, I have grown as a person and have been able to give back to our community in ways I could never have imagined before I joined this sisterhood. These girls, your new sisters, are some of the best people I have ever come to know and they challenge me to hold myself to a higher standard every day. They help me grow, and I can't wait to see how much you grow in the next year, and even the years after that.
4. You all are going to be our future littles.
I can't wait to meet my little, or little(s), who knows- if I could have all of you as my littles I probably would because I love you so much already. My pledge class of '15 has been obnoxiously excited to meet their new littles since we became littles, ourselves. (And just wait until you get to meet your grand-bigs: they are the literal definition of the bomb.com.) We can not wait to spoil you, but more importantly, get to know you and be here for you in the way only a big sis can. You only get your first year once, and it is a lot to take on but so much fun when you've got your sisters by your side. We can't wait to grow closer to you, and can't wait to cheer you on at everything you will do in the next four years. Go best fran, that's ma best fran!!! (/little.)
5. There is only one girl like you and that's why we had to have you.
It's probably weird to hear how much we love you and are obsessed with you already, but like, in the least-creepy way possible, it is all 100% completely true. Recruitment is something you will never understand until you go through it from our side. I mean that because being this is my first year on the other side- it is a whole new world. It is emotional, draining, and exhilarating in the best of ways. We have been just as nervous as you have been, hoping that you would choose to come back to see us each and every day- loving us as much as we have loved you. You have impressed us so much, and there is nothing like a brand new, perfect pledge class of new babies. Whether you came into our house with friends from high school, or by yourself- you are so loved and so wanted here, and we hope we can show you that from the very beginning.
To the pledge class of 2016: get excited. Run in our house screaming and jumping up and down. Take a thousand pictures. You have just made one of the best decisions of your life.
